The Muppets (comic strip)
.]] 'The Muppets' comic strip first premiered in over 500 daily newspapers on September 21, 1981, just months after ''The Muppet Show ended its five year run. The strip was created by brothers Guy and Brad Gilchrist. The Muppets Comic Strip was printed daily from 1981 to 1986 in over 660 newspapers worldwide. Special strips were also created in color, exclusively for issues of Muppet Magazine during its run. The strip is notable as being the first comic strip in history to be syndicated in multiple countries starting on the very first day of publication. Guy Gilchrist described working on a world-wide comic stating: "We had to work twice as far in advance as anyone else in our business at that time, because our strips had to be shipped via airmail and messenger (prior to the internet, of course) all around the world to be translated into every language of the 80 countries that read us each day. We had to be extremely aware of the global marketplace. We couldn't, for instance, write any 'puns' or English language wordplay. It couldn't be translated, you see." http://www.gilchriststudios.com/d2s.html In 1984, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan invited Guy to be guest of honor at the "Easter at The White House" celebration. Later that week, Guy’s Muppets artwork was permanently enshrined in the Smithsonian Institute. Guy’s Muppet artwork was chosen to be part of the touring Art of the Muppets exhibit and has appeared in museums worldwide. The strip originally had a more naturalistic style that was patterned directly off the puppets. As time went on, though, Guy became more confident drawing the characters and the strip became more stylized, capturing the essence of the characters in this new medium. Characters featured in the Muppets comic strip included: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, Rowlf, Statler and Waldorf, Robin, Beauregard, Sam the Eagle, Floyd, Zoot, Janice, Animal, Rizzo, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, The Swedish Chef, Camilla, Pops, Beaker, J.P. Grosse, Foo Foo, and Thog. Background characters included Whatnots, Monsters, Chickens, Rats, Frogs and a handful of characters that looked somewhat like Doozers, although in scale with the Muppets. Strip gallery comic sept 22.jpg|Sept 22, 1981 sept23 1981.jpg|Sept 23, 1981 anth03mar04.jpg|Sept 24, 1981 comic sept 25.jpg|Sept 25, 1981 comic sept 26.jpg|Sept 26, 1981 comic sept 28.jpg|Sept 28, 1981 anth03mar05.jpg|Sept 29, 1981 anth03mar06.jpg|Sept 30, 1981 oct 2 1981.jpg|Oct 2, 1981 oct 3 1981.jpg|Oct 3, 1981 comic oct 5.jpg|Oct 5, 1981 oct 6 1981.jpg|Oct 6, 1981 anth03mar08.jpg|Oct 7, 1981 comic oct 8.jpg|Oct 8, 1981 anth03mar07.jpg|Oct 9, 1981 File:Muppet_comic_strip_oct_10.jpg|Oct 10, 1981 comic oct 12.jpg|Oct 12, 1981 oct 13 1981.jpg|Oct 13, 1981 oct 14 1981.jpg|Oct 14, 1981 oct 15 1981.jpg|Oct 15, 1981 oct 16 1981.jpg|Oct 16, 1981 oct 17 1981.jpg|Oct 17, 1981 oct 19 1981.jpg|Oct 19, 1981 oct 20 1981.jpg|Oct 20, 1981 oct 21 1981.jpg|Oct 21, 1981 oct 22 1981.jpg|Oct 22, 1981 oct 23 1981.jpg|Oct 23, 1981 oct 24 1981.jpg|Oct 24, 1981 oct 26 1981.jpg|Oct 26, 1981 oct 27 1981.jpg|Oct 27, 1981 oct 28 1981.jpg|Oct 28, 1981 oct 29 1981.jpg|Oct 29, 1981 oct 30 1981.jpg|Oct 30, 1981 comic oct 31.jpg|Oct 31, 1981 nov 2 1981.jpg|Nov 2, 1981 nov 3 1981.jpg|Nov 3, 1981 nov 4 1981.jpg|Nov 4, 1981 nov 5 1981.jpg|Nov 5, 1981 nov 6 1981.jpg|Nov 6, 1981 nov 7 1981.jpg|Nov 7, 1981 nov 9 1981.jpg|Nov 9, 1981 nov 10 1981.jpg|Nov 10, 1981 comic nov 11.jpg|Nov 11, 1981 nov 12 1981.jpg|Nov 12, 1981 nov 13 1981.jpg|Nov 13, 1981 comic nov 14.jpg|Nov 14, 1981 nov 16 1981.jpg|Nov 16, 1981 nov 17 1981.jpg|Nov 17, 1981 nov 18 1981.jpg|Nov 18, 1981 nov 19 1981.jpg|Nov 19, 1981 nov 20 1981.jpg|Nov 20, 1981 comic nov 21.jpg|Nov 21, 1981 nov 23 1981.jpg|Nov 23, 1981 nov 24 1981.jpg|Nov 24, 1981 nov 25 1981.jpg|Nov 25, 1981 nov 26 1981.jpg|Nov 26, 1981 nov 27 1981.jpg|Nov 27, 1981 comic nov 28.jpg|Nov 28, 1981 comic nov 30.jpg|Nov 30, 1981 dec 1 1981.jpg|Dec 1, 1981 dec 2 1981.jpg|Dec 2, 1981 dec 3 1981.jpg|Dec 3, 1981 dec 4 1981.jpg|Dec 4, 1981 comic dec 5.jpg|Dec 5, 1981 comic dec 7.jpg|Dec 7, 1981 dec 8 1981.jpg|Dec 8, 1981 dec 9 1981.jpg|Dec 9, 1981 comic dec 11.jpg|Dec 11, 1981 comic dec 12.jpg|Dec 12, 1981 Kermit monday comic.jpg|February 22, 1982 gonzo shower comic.JPG Comic April 25.jpg|April 25, 1982 Comic May 23.jpg|May 23, 1982 Comic Jul 25.jpg|July 25, 1982 Comic Oct 24.jpg|October 24, 1982 Comic Dec 19.jpg|December 19, 1982 Comic Mar 6.jpg|March 6, 1983 May 8 1983.jpg|May 8, 1983 Comic May 29.jpg|May 29, 1983 Comic jun 12.jpg|June 12, 1983 Comic Jun 19.jpg|June 19, 1983 Comic Jun 26.jpg|June 26, 1983 Jul 22 1984.jpg|July 22, 1984 April 14 1985.jpg|April 14, 1985 Jun 30 1985.jpg|June 30, 1985 Oct 27 1985.jpg|October 27, 1985 comics0002.jpg Pigs In Space comic.JPG Muppet boxing sunday.jpg Book collections Six books were released by Tom Doherty Associates collecting the later strips. Image:Stripcollection.shortgreen.jpg| 1984 ISBN 0812573633 Image:Stripcollection.lightfeet.jpg| 1984 ISBN 081257365X Image:Stripcollection.movinalong.jpg| 1984 ISBN 0671506463 Image:Stripcollection.chickenpeople.jpg| 1985 ISBN 0812573692 Image:Stripcollection.froggymountain.jpg| 1986 ISBN 0812573803 Image:Stripcollection.onthetown.jpg| 1986 ISBN 0812573714 Translations Image:Rampenlicht.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1986 Translation by Take Janssen ISBN 3-404-10812-4 Image:misspiggyaufstimmenfang.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1986 Translation by Take Janssen ISBN 3-404-10839-6 Image:kleingrunundliebenswert.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1987 Translation by Heiner H. Boeck ISBN 3-404-10863-9 Image:Großstadtmelodie.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1987 Translation by Uwe Luserke ISBN 3-404-10876-0 Image:kermitlasstdiepuppentanzen.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1987 Translation by Heiner H. Boeck ISBN 3-404-10914-7 Image:misspiggymachttheater.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1987 Translation by Heiner H. Boeck ISBN 3-404-10939-2 Sources External links *Tough Pigs: The Early Days of the Muppets Comic Strip Muppets (comic strip)